This invention relates generally to passageway structures for interconnecting truck and camper, cap or canopy combinations and more particularly to an improved, easily installed and removed boot structure.
Trucks having campers carried by the truck commonly include a rear window on the cab of the truck in approximate registry with a window on a forward wall of the camper. It is desirable to interconnect or intercouple windows with a tunnel assembly which is sealed within the window openings of the cab and camper windows so that dirt, debris and weather are kept outside while providing communication between the truck cab and the camper body.
Commonly, such passageway tunnels or boots are permanently or semi-permanently installed in the window openings of the camper or cab or both window openings. The following five prior art patents are representative of the current state of the art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,321,234, issued May 23, 1967 to W. L. Harrell et al, discloses an assembly including a panel which completely replaces the rear window of the truck cab, and a rigid, rectangular tunnel interconnecting the panel in the cab with the camper. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,625,560, issued Dec. 7, 1971 to R. M. Bjork; 3,844,603, issued Oct. 29, 1974 to R. M. Bjork et al; and 3,853,348, also issued to R. M. Bjork et al, each disclose a boot permanently mounted within the camper with a semirigid, forwardly extended tunnel which fits in the truck cab window opening without need of altering the cab window opening. U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,224 discloses a boot with a flexible tunnel which is installed with rigid frame members behind the respective truck cab and camper window openings without need of altering either window opening.
Conversely, the present invention provides a boot for interconnecting the window openings of a truck cab and camper combination which is installed and removed at will in a few seconds without need of any installation tools, frames, staples, snaps, etc., of any kind whatsoever. The boot is of simple, uncomplicated structure and is readily manufactured from a simple rectangular sheet of vinyl or other plastics material. The boot includes a flexible tunnel with inflatable, toroidal chambers at each end of the tunnel which are simply popped into place behind the respective window openings of the truck cab and camper. The inflated boot is of no self-defined shape and thus is conformed easily to the window openings in which it is installed. When not in use, the boot may be deflated and folded into a compact size for storage.